Editing Pope Innocent VI

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 1352 to 1362}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]]
| name = Innocent VI
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| image = Innocent VI.JPG
| caption = Pope Innocent VI in a [[fresco]] by [[Andrea di Bonaiuto da Firenze]], 1365
| birth_name = Étienne Aubert
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| term_start = 18 December 1352
| term_end = 12 September 1362
| predecessor = [[Clement VI]]
| successor = [[Urban V]]
| birth_date = 1282
| cardinal = 20 September 1342
| created_cardinal_by = [[Clement VI]]
| birth_place = [[Beyssac|Les Monts]], [[France in the Middle Ages|Kingdom of France]]
| death_date = 12 September 1362 (aged 79–80)
| death_place = [[Avignon]], [[Papal States]]
| coat_of_arms = C o a Innocenzo VI.svg
| other = Innocent
}}

{{Infobox popestyles
|image            = File: C o a Innocenzo VI.svg
|dipstyle         = [[His Holiness]]
|offstyle         = Your Holiness
|relstyle         = Holy Father
|deathstyle       = None
}}

'''Pope Innocent VI''' ({{langx|la|Innocentius VI}}; 1282 – 12 September 1362), born '''Étienne Aubert''', was head of the [[Catholic Church]] and ruler of the [[Papal States]] from 18 December 1352 to his death, in September 1362. He was the fifth [[Avignon pope]] and the only one with the pontifical name of "Innocent".

Étienne Aubert, born in the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Limoges|Diocese of Limoges]], was a civil law professor and held various positions in the church before being appointed as Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia and Velletri by Pope Clement VI. He became Pope Innocent VI on 30 December 1352. As pope, he revoked an agreement asserting the college of cardinals' superiority over the pope and introduced important reforms in church administration. Through his legate, Cardinal Albornoz, he aimed to restore order in Rome.

Innocent VI played a significant role in the 1360 [[Treaty of Brétigny]] between France and England. Though he declined an offer to unite the Greek Orthodox Church with the Roman See in exchange for support, his papacy was marked by financial challenges due to wars in Italy and the aftermath of a plague. To address these challenges, he reduced the chapel staff and sold works of art.

Innocent VI was a patron of letters and is generally considered just and merciful, although criticized by some, such as [[St. Bridget of Sweden]], for his actions against the [[Fraticelli]]. He died on 12 September 1362 and was succeeded by Urban V. His tomb is located in the Chartreuse du Val de Bénédiction in [[Villeneuve-lès-Avignon]].

==Early life==
Étienne, born during the late 1280s,{{sfn|Rollo-Koster|2015|p=86}} was the son of Adhemar Aubert, seigneur de [[Montel-de-Gelat]] in [[Limousin (region)|Limousin]] province. He was a native of the hamlet of Les Monts, [[Diocese of Limoges]],{{sfn|Coulombe|2003|p=298}} and, after having taught [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] at [[Toulouse]], he became successively [[Bishop of Noyon]] in 1338 and [[Bishop of Clermont]] in 1340.<ref name=Musto>{{cite book|first=Ronald G.|last= Musto|title=Apocalypse in Rome: Cola di Rienzo and the Politics of the New Age|publisher=University of California Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PN4WEKZj7oC|isbn=9780520233966|year= 2003|page= 308}}</ref> On 20 September 1342, he was raised to the position of [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] Priest of SS. John and Paul.{{sfn|Coulombe|2003|p=298}} In September 1347, Etienne, assigned by Pope Clement VI, accompanied Cardinal Annibaldo as part of a peace envoy which resulted in the Truce of Calais.{{sfn|Rollo-Koster|2015|p=81}}

Etienne was made cardinal-bishop of [[Bishop of Ostia|Ostia and Velletri]] on 13 February 1352, by [[Pope Clement VI]], whom he succeeded.<ref>Conrad Eubel, ''Hierarchia catholica'' Tomus I, editio altera (Monasterii 1913), p. 36; p. 18.</ref>

==His papacy==
Etienne was crowned pope on 30 December 1352 by Cardinal Gaillard de la Mothe after the [[Papal conclave, 1352|papal conclave of 1352]].<ref name=McBrien>{{cite book|first=Richard P. |last=McBrien|title=Lives of the Popes|publisher=HarperCollins|year= 2000|page= 242|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=stYqDs2Me_4C|isbn= 9780060878078}}</ref> Upon his election, he revoked a signed agreement stating the college of cardinals was superior to the pope.<ref name=Musto/> His subsequent policy compares favourably with that of the other [[Avignon Papacy|Avignon Popes]]. He introduced many needed reforms in the administration of church affairs, and through his legate, Cardinal [[Gil Alvarez De Albornoz|Albornoz]], who was accompanied by [[Cola di Rienzi|Rienzi]], he sought to restore order in [[Rome]]. In 1355, [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor]], was crowned in Rome with Innocent's permission, after having made an oath that he would quit the city on the day of the ceremony.{{sfn|Coulombe|2003|p=298}}
It was largely through the exertions of Innocent VI that the [[Treaty of Brétigny]] (1360) between [[France]] and [[England]] was brought about. During his pontificate, the Byzantine emperor [[John V Palaeologus]] offered to submit the Greek Orthodox Church to the [[Holy See|Roman See]] in return for assistance against [[John VI Cantacuzenus]]. The resources at the disposal of the Pope, however, were all required for exigencies nearer home, and the offer was declined.

Most of the wealth accumulated by [[John XXII]] and [[Benedict XII]] had been lost during the extravagant pontificate of [[Clement VI]]. Innocent VI economised by cutting the chapel staff (''capellani capelle'') from twelve to eight. Works of art were sold rather than commissioned. His pontificate was dominated by the war in Italy and by Avignon's recovery from the plague, both of which made draining demands on his treasury. By 1357, he was complaining of poverty.

Innocent VI was a liberal patron of letters. If the extreme severity of his measures against the [[Fraticelli]] is ignored, he retains a high reputation for justice and mercy. However, St. [[Bridget of Sweden]] denounced him as a persecutor of Christians.<ref name=McBrien/> He died on 12 September 1362 and was succeeded by [[Pope Urban V|Urban V]]. Today, his tomb can be found in the Chartreuse du Val de Bénédiction, the [[Carthusian]] monastery in [[Villeneuve-lès-Avignon]].

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
*[[Cardinals created by Innocent VI]]
*[[List of popes]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|first=Charles A. |last=Coulombe|title=Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4tbYF51StSQC|isbn=9780806523705|publisher=Citadel Press|year= 2003 }}
*{{cite book |title= Avignon and Its Papacy, 1309-1417: Popes, Institutions, and Society |first=Joëlle |last=Rollo-Koster |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |year=2015 }}
*''Modified text from the 9th edition (1879) of an unnamed encyclopedia''{{full citation needed|date=September 2016}}
*Tomasello, ''Music and Ritual at Papal Avignon 1309–1403.'' Ann Arbor, Michigan: UMI Research Press, 1983.
*Louis XI (king of France), Josepf Frederic, Louis Vaesen, Etienne Charavay, Bernard Edouard de Mandrot-1905.(Googles livres){{full citation needed|date=September 2016}}
*Societe' d'etudes de la province de Cambrai, Lille-1907
*Antoine Pellisier (1961). ''Innocent VI :le reformateur, deuxième pape Limousin (1352–1362)'' {{full citation needed|date=September 2016}}
==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Innocentius VI|Pope Innocent VI}}
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{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Bertrand du Pouget]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Cardinal-bishop of Ostia]]|years=1353–1361}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Pierre Bertrand de Colombier]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Clement VI]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=1352 – 1362}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Urban V]]}}
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{{Popes}}
{{Catholicism}}
{{History of the Catholic Church}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Innocent 06}}
[[Category:1282 births]]
[[Category:1362 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Corrèze]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:French popes]]
[[Category:Cardinal-bishops of Ostia]]
[[Category:Bishops of Noyon]]
[[Category:Bishops of Clermont]]
[[Category:Avignon Papacy]]
[[Category:House of Aubert]]
[[Category:14th-century French Roman Catholic bishops]]
[[Category:Major Penitentiaries of the Apostolic Penitentiary]]
[[Category:14th-century popes]]
[[Category:14th-century peers of France]]<!--as Bishop-Count of Noyon-->